Thriving group is making camouflage beanie hats to wear under helmets, and blankets for the elderly
KNITTERS in Pentyrch have made about 60 woollen hats to line the metal helmets of Ukrainian soldiers.
The beanie hats are part of a gift of about 30 half-square-metre cardboard boxes packed with knitted and crocheted hats, jumpers, blankets, shawls and teddy bears that have been sent since March 2023.
Pentyrch Knit and Natter group got involved after an appeal from Plymouth Ukraine Medical Aid.
“It was just all kicking off and I said to the girls, come on, we need to do something, what can we do?” said Carol Saint, who set up the group in 2015.
“They asked if people could knit camouflaged hats for them to wear underneath to keep them warm and be comfortable – so we responded,” Mrs Saint said.
Mrs Saint sent two boxes full of knitted hats for the army on Tuesday last week and the group are now donating Christmas cards and chocolate lollies for the next delivery as part of Puma’s Christmas deliveries for Ukrainian orphans.
“They have to share everything, so they don’t get a lot of things that are theirs, so it’s nice if they get a little jumper,” Mrs Saint said.
Puma volunteers drive the donations to Uzhhorod in Ukraine each month and have delivered medical aid, clothing and food to hospitals, shelters and the Ukrainian army. Requests for items change all the time. They have been asked for soft toys and blankets and shawls for the elderly.
“When the elderly have got nothing, it’s keeping them warm as well. What is nice is we know they are being given out when we get photographs,” said Mrs Saint.
The group will be sending another four boxes to help the Ukrainians before Christmas. Members are accepting any knitted items of clothing that they can send onto Puma or distribute within the community.
Retired nursery nurse Mrs Saint started the knitting group with six women and now there are 60 from Pentyrch and as far away as Barry and Pontypridd.
“When I first retired, I’d never been a massive knitter, but I joined a knitting group in Cardiff. I thought I’d have a go at doing it in the village. We had six ladies on the first day, including me.
“Now we have literally got between 10 and 12 ladies who just come for a chat. A few live alone, so they need company. Everybody’s very caring,” said Mrs Saint.
Kathy Pritchard, of Pentyrch, started knitting for the group from her home after breaking her femur.
“I’ve always knitted for my kids and then it gets to a stage where people don’t want hand-knitted stuff. It’s to do something that’s not for yourself really,” she said.
Helen Edwards joined the group in 2017.
“A lot of people have lost their partners or are by themselves – it’s a good way of meeting up,” said Mrs Edwards, who donated £100 from the Pentyrch Open Gardens event she organised in July 2024 to help cover the cost of posting the boxes to Puma.
The group buys its own wool and occasionally receives donations from residents in Radyr, Creigiau and Pentyrch.
They also deliver teddy bears, called Trauma Teds, to about 10 groups that support patients including the University Hospital of Wales, Ronald McDonald House at Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital and local youth crisis centres and police stations.
“Honestly the letters I’ve got upstairs – I keep all the letters and cards we get and the girls know then that the stuff’s got there,” she said.
- Pentyrch Knit and Natter can be contacted through the Pentyrch Community Group Facebook page or by attending the Friday morning meetings at Pentyrch RFC from 11am.
